Day 1 of a 18 day JMT thruhike. It was hard humping my gear to the spur trail but at last, I dropped the pack and hit the Half Dome trail. Awesome. Had the summit almost to myself because I was there so late.

A very crowded hike, but it's understandable why. Amazing views along the trail of waterfalls, Yosemite Valley, Tenaya Canyon, and the Sierra. Light traffic on the cables going up, but a traffic jam going down.

My wife and I climbed the Snake Dike route to the top. Perfect weather (though a dark cloud did form/dissipate over us at one point). The approach was long and more of a bushwhack than we expected (the 3rd/4th class stuff was exposed). Arrived expecting crowds but saw no one (on route or during approach!!) - just two of us and a the huge chunk of granite. On pitch two, got passed by two Australians moving quite fast. Pitch three traverse was very exciting (the second bolt on the traverse seems OK, the first bolt is crap). Ran into a free soloer (Al) atop pitch 8. Real nice guy - took some pictures of us. The summit (~6pm) was empty. The cables rotue descent was more than we expected (slippery & steep rock!). The hike out was painful. Whole thing took much longer than we thought it would (mostly due to unpleasant approach). Overall, a beautiful climb we've been wanting to do for a year now!!

Incredible hike in a truly unique part of the world. The Mist Trail will amaze you - nothing like two world class waterfalls to help you pass the time on the way up. You will get drenched (think 'horizontal shower') by Vernal if you go in the spring/early summer, but the thunder makes it so worthwhile. The cables section is nothing for most of the visitors to summitpost, but for mortals it can prove to be as much a mental task as physical. The summit is surreal and the views, of course, beyond outstanding. Hike on a mid weekday and you will have a better time - less wait on the cables and more space to yourself on top. Take the JMT on the way back; it offers awesome views of Nevada Fall and Liberty Cap. It's a longer trail but beats going down the stone staircases of the Mist trail.

My first trip up Half Dome. Left Lower Pines Campground in the middle of the night and made it to the top before dawn. The roar of Vernal, Neveda, and all the other falls was deafening for the first half of the trip. Had Half Dome all to my self at sunrise on Memorial Day.

The textbook HORROR story. I met this guy in camp 4...we climbed a few routes and he seemed OK. Went up to Half Dome and started up. He was slow. Wanted to bivy at pitch 8. I argued for pushing to pitch 11 which we did having to climb the last pitch in the dark. He became MR. HYDE, screaming, cursing and going generally beserk. I feared for my life. One more night at BigSandy and then the next day we were off. Whew! What a psycho. Be careful kids.

Climbed with Bob. Gorgeous day and climb to the top without anyone else to worry about. We had the entire trail, climb, summit, and descent to ourselves. Interesting and fun descent via the snow and ice encrusted Cables Route! Read all about it in my SP trip report.

After three previous (failed) winter attempts on Half Dome via the Cable Route, John suggested we try via Snake Dike. Good choice. Very little snow that weekend, more like late spring with gorgeous weather, and we had the route and the entire mountain to ourselves. Going down the cables was the highlight - we walked down the cables until they were too buried in ice to dig out, then rappelled 100ft wearing crampons, and walked down the final 100ft to the shoulder. A summer climb / winter descent. Awesome... Trip Report

I climbed this with my good friends, Ed and Mike, on day 4 of a 5 day Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley backpacking trip. It was a great way to blow off steam before I started studying for Bar Exam. Fun climb, but I’m surprised more people haven’t been killed on the cables.

Easy Hike, Camped in Little Yosemite Valley. Recommend it to anyone who enjoys backpacking. Later that summer, I climbed the Face. That was pretty easy too. Great Big Wall Climb with spectacular views. Definitely recommend it as long as it isn't too windy, like when I climbed. The ropes were hard to manage.

3 day backpacking trip from the Valley with a 1 day day hike up from Little Yosemite Valley. Despite leaving at 8am from LIttle Yosemite Valley we were not the first ones to the top. Great views till about noon, then the smoke from the fires came in. This was the last weekend before the cables came down for the season.

Miguel Carmona and I climbed the Snake Dike in 8 hours and 15 minutes RT from our tent at the Upper Pines Camp Ground in 1987. This was a challenge presented to us by our friend and climbing buddy Rich Henke,who previous day climbed in in 8 hours and 40 minutes. We had to beat his time. I remember totally freaking out the turists coming up the cables, when we strolled down in our rock shoes outside the cables. There were people clutching the cables for a dear life, screaming that we will get ourselfs killed; it was such fun.

Drove up that morning and got started at 10 AM. It was raining on and off for the first half of the hike and we heard reports from people coming down saying that it was snowing on top and to add to it, we could hear thunder once in a while. All these people who got there early were turned back by the ranger. We arrived at the cables at 5PM and the only clouds were below us. No snow and very few people by that time. The top was great and sitting over the edge was exciting. Made the last 4 miles of the descent in the dark and were done by 8PM.

Climbing Half Dome was the culmination of our 3 day backpacking trip from Tuluomne Meadows to Yosemite Valley through Cathedral Lake and Sunrise. We spent previous night in the beautiful campground on the intersection of John Muir Trail and Clouds Rest, 2.5 miles away from Half Dome (those of you who chose to stay in a well-developed Little Yosemite Valley - you missed out big time!). Woke up at 5:30am and was underway at 7am. Day turned out to be absolutely gorgeous. We left our backpacks in the bushes next to the John Muir Trail, and hiked with daybacks to the top. Ascend was easy and enjoyable. We've made it to the top at 9am. Ran into two guys who were drinking large cans of Fosters and playing frisbee on the summit plato - ohh they've made us jealous with their beer. We got to our backpacks by 11am and witnessed major traffic on the John Muir trail on the way to the top. If you want to enjoy the ascend - make it early (before 9-10am).